This Popular Weight Loss Diet Actually Doesn't Work

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Here's yet another day and another diet that may not be as good for your weight loss goals as you think. Intermittent fasting is a diet trend that celebrities including Miranda Kerr, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Aniston have all committed to in the past, but as scientists have recently discovered, alternate-day fasting might not be as effective as what we first thought.

Not only that, but this randomized clinical trial, conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago, also uncovered that there was no real difference between fasting and calorie restriction when it came to improving risk indicators for cardiovascular disease.

A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine tested 100 obese adults over the course of a year. It discovered that alternate-day fasting didn’t have very different weight loss and weight maintenance results from daily calorie restriction.

The test subjects of the study were randomly split into one of three groups: an alternate-day fasting group, a daily calorie restriction group, and a no-intervention control group. At the conclusion of the study, researchers discovered that those on the alternate-day fasting program lost 6 percent of their total body weight in a year, compared to the 5.3 percent lost by those on the daily calorie restriction plan—which really isn’t that big of a difference.

Interestingly, the study also noted that 38 percent of the alternate-day fasting group participants dropped out of the trial, compared to the 29 percent of people in the daily calorie restriction group who did the same thing.

So as this study shows, while a diet may seem "trendy," it's important to do your research and look at all the facts. And as always, before you think about changing your diet or embarking on a weight loss journey of your own, be sure to speak to your doctor and a dietitian first.

This post was written by Ellie McDonald. For more, check out our sister siteNow To Love.